What is a Fairytale? Differences and Similarities amongst the stories of Cinderella

Cinderella is certainly one of, if not the most popular fairytales in existence. All over the world are told many variations of Cinderella, coming from all sorts of cultures worldwide. The most recognized is that of Charles Perrault, where the english stepdaughter is bullied by her stepmother and step sisters, forced to be a maid, and isn't allowed to go to the ball but is rescued by her fairy godmother; she is able to go to the ball, and the prince falls in love with her, yet she must leave by the stroke of midnight, drops her glass slipper, he finds her the next day, gets married, happily ever after. Most Cinderella stories go by the same plot, girl has bad life, girl goes to ball, girl loses slipper, girl gets married, the end, although the variations of Cinderella stories the come from around the world is what makes it interesting because you'll see the similarities and differences of the same situations all around the world. Now in the Chinese version you'll see that she too is a servant in her own home due to the jealousy of her stepmother and stepsister, she wants to go to the 'ball' but in this case is a festival (note the slight differences in culture between these two Cinderella's), her 'fairy godmother' is a magical fish whom her stepmother killed but the bones were still magical, which grants her wish to go to the festival and she receives beautiful clothing and golden slippers. Instead of being forced to leave due to the time, she realized her family was beginning to notice her, so she rushes home, leaving one of her slippers. The king finds her slipper, tries to find the woman who it belonged to, 'Cinderella' tries to steal the slipper in this case but he catches her, then realizing her beauty he allows her to stay and marries her.